Short Reviews [Cary Grace - 2015 - "Tygerland"]

Cary’s 2015 album ‘Tygerland’ saw a wider group of supporting musicians, as well as a more diverse mix of styles. Part of this was due to the way this album came together, in that one song was actually from the ‘Perpetual Motions’ sessions some five years earlier and includes performances from Graham Clark (Gong, Magick Brothers), and Spencer Cullum Jr. (Dead String Brothers, Steelism). Another five songs were recorded in live session with Steffe Sharpstrings (Here & Now, Planet Gong, Sentient, Psy Gong), John Garden (who had worked with Cary before, Scissor Sisters, Alison Moyet, Mauve La Biche), alongside seasoned collaborators Andy Budge (bass), and David Payne (drums). One of the session tracks also includes Catriona Shaw on trumpet and sax, adding yet another musical strong to the bow. In many ways this is a much more straightforward album, darker and more gothic, and I found myself thinking more and more of Patti Smith as an inspiration, which Cary has then taken into new territory. “War Child” contains wonderful guitar, great Hammond-style keyboards, and it is hard for me to actually write anything about it as I just want to close my eyes and drift into the music (which is not a good thing when you are as poor a touch typist as I am). Nine minutes of classic space rock, psychedelic with Gong and Hawkwind influences, and her vocals over the top of it all. Strangely commercial, the repeated saxophone line drills into the psyche, pinning the brain and baring the soul. Lots of vocals on this album, with just one really lengthy number, “Windsong”. At more than twenty minutes in length, this is an emotional and atmospheric wander through a forest in the mist. Shapes keep coming out of nowhere, then disappear, and the mind starts to play tricks as it asks if something was real or imagined. It is eerie, evocative, and yet again so very different to much of what has gone before. When Cary starts to speak, telling the story of when she was a naked child, it is compelling, vital, and the rest of the world disappears. The joining together of the words and the music is symbiotic, made for each other, and lifting each to even greater heights. This is an incredible introduction to the world and mind of Cary Grace, and the one to which I most often return.